Did Dan Patrick Misquote Martin Luther King Jr.?

Our weekly check-in with the Texas Truth-O-Meter.

By Alain StephensJanuary 11, 2017 10:04 am,

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick opened his full-throated endorsement of Texas legislation targeting transgender access to bathrooms by quoting the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Patrick, joined by the proposal’s author, state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, told reporters at the Texas Capitol on Jan. 5, 2017: “Martin Luther King said our lives begin to end the day we become silent on things that matter.

Did King really say that? Gardner Selby of the PolitiFact Texas fact-checking team has the answer.

“This legislation, the Texas Privacy Act, that Sen. Kolkhorst is filing today, is unquestionably one of the things that matters,” Patrick said. “It’s the right thing to do. I know it, Texans know it and Sen. Kolkhorst knows it.”

Debate over the measure–banning transgender people from using the Texas bathroom of their choice–will play out in the 2017 legislative session. We focused on the origin of Patrick’s King quotation.

Hear how Patrick’s quote scored in the player above.